The Catholic church ordained women for the first 1,200 years of Christianity, says a new book by a U.S. scholar.

Then, in a struggle for political power in the 12th and 13th centuries, it vilified females, banned married clergy and rewrote its own history to excise clerical women.

Women were made deaconesses (equivalent to deacons) episcopae (bishops), and presbyterae (priests), and they preached, heard confessions, performed baptisms and even blessed the bread and wine for communion, says Gary Macy, a theology professor at Santa Clara University in California.

Quite interesting... and once I read about it, I immediately thought that Crazy may want to check out the actual book. What are your thoughts? The full story is below... I haven't read the book, but something tells me it would be an interesting read!

I would like to see more evidence presented than just "In 853, one bishop appointed his sister to guard the family property from future bishops who might not be worthy." I have seen a bit of evidence that suggests this change happened far earlier in Christian history, but that was in the Middle East where the religions and cultures of the time/place already stepped on their women, and perhaps as Christianity reached into the Celtic and European lands (that had high-status women) some bits of the faith were adapted, such as we see Brigit turn into St Brigit. I have always wondered how a strong culture with strong women could have turned overtly patriarchal to the point of demonizing women so quickly, and honestly wondered if it was what some archaeologists have suggested, that cave women used to be matriarchs, men were what women are today, and men overturned this an are afraid of the opposite rising again? Still, that does not make sense to me.

Macy's view, if true, would help a few issues make sense to my poor brain that cannot conceive the idiocy of the dogmatic religions.

Crazy Healer LadyHealth and happiness to you!

The purpose of a relationship is not to have another who might complete you, but to have another with whom you might share your completeness. -CWG